Wisdom of Solomon (Wis. 14)

[1] Again, one preparing to sail and about to voyage
over raging waves
calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than
the ship which carries him.

[2] For it was desire for gain that planned that vessel,
and wisdom was the craftsman who built it;

[3] but it is thy providence, O Father, that steers its course,
because thou hast given it a path in the sea,
and a safe way through the waves,

[4] showing that thou canst save from every danger,
so that even if a man lacks skill, he may put to sea.

[5] It is thy will that works of thy wisdom should
not be without effect;
therefore men trust their lives even to the
smallest piece of wood,
and passing through the billows on a raft they
come safely to land.

[6] For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing,
the hope of the world took refuge on a raft,
and guided by thy hand left to the world the
seed of a new generation.

[7] For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.

[8] But the idol made with hands is accursed, and
so is he who made it;
because he did the work, and the perishable
thing was named a god.

[9] For equally hateful to God are the ungodly
man and his ungodliness,

[10] for what was done will be punished together
with him who did it.

[11] Therefore there will be a visitation also upon
the heathen idols,
because, though part of what God created, they
became an abomination,
and became traps for the souls of men
and a snare to the feet of the foolish.

[12] For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,
and the invention of them was the corruption of life,

[13] for neither have they existed from the beginning
nor will they exist for ever.

[14] For through the vanity of men they entered the world,
and therefore their speedy end has been planned.

[15] For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement,
made an image of his child, who had been suddenly
taken from him;
and he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being,
and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations.

[16] Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with
time, was kept as a law,
and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshiped.

[17] When men could not honor monarchs in their
presence, since they lived at a distance,
they imagined their appearance far away,
and made a visible image of the king whom they honored,
so that by their zeal they might flatter the
absent one as though present.

[18] Then the ambition of the craftsman impelled
even those who did not know the king to intensify
their worship.

[19] For he, perhaps wishing to please his ruler,
skilfully forced the likeness to take more beautiful form,

[20] and the multitude, attracted by the charm of his work,
now regarded as an object of worship the one
whom shortly before they had honored as a man.

[21] And this became a hidden trap for mankind,
because men, in bondage to misfortune or to royal authority,
bestowed on objects of stone or wood the name
that ought not to be shared.

[22] Afterward it was not enough for them to err
about the knowledge of God,
but they live in great strife due to ignorance,
and they call such great evils peace.

[23] For whether they kill children in their initiations,
or celebrate secret mysteries,
or hold frenzied revels with strange customs,

[24] they no longer keep either their lives or their marriages pure,
but they either treacherously kill one another,
or grieve one another by adultery,

[25] and all is a raging riot of blood and murder,
theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,

[26] confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors,
pollution of souls, sex perversion,
disorder in marriage, adultery, and debauchery.

[27] For the worship of idols not to be named
is the beginning and cause and end of every evil.

[28] For their worshipers either rave in exultation,
or prophesy lies,
or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury;

[29] for because they trust in lifeless idols
they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm.

[30] But just penalties will overtake them on two counts:
because they thought wickedly of God in devoting
themselves to idols,
and because in deceit they swore unrighteously
through contempt for holiness.

[31] For it is not the power of the things by which men swear,
but the just penalty for those who sin,
that always pursues the transgression of the unrighteous.